A crowd of approximately 350 people gathered on the steps of city hall in downtown Boise Saturday to protest a recently-passed Arizona law that they believe leads to racial profiling and discrimination.

The law gives police officers in Arizona the power to attempt to determine the citizenship status of anyone they stop through lawful means.  If officers have a reasonable suspicion that a person they stop might be an illegal immigrant, police have the power to detain the person under the new provision.

Several of the protesters came to the rally with signs expressing discontent and disapproval of the measure, which is set to take effect at the end of July.  Many groups and organizations, including the ACLU, have promised lawsuits to prevent the law from ever being enforced.   The protest in Boise was part of a string of rallies across the nation Saturday.  Larger cities reported greater numbers than did Boise.  Officials in Dallas, Texas, report that as many as 25,000 attended the rally in that city.

Here are a few of the signs:

Scott McGavin

Trudy McGavin

Manuel Herrera

Gustavo Acosta

Chris Arenz, left, and his brother Carlos Arenz, right